Although Covid restrictions did not allow us to have our Year 11 prom off site we were able to quickly rearrange everything to have it at school instead. The event was very enjoyable with a range of food, entertainment, awards and dancing until late into the night. The evening ended with a bang with a firework display lighting up the school site.

A big thank you to all those who helped make the evening a success for our Year 11 cohort.

We bade farewell to Year 11 with a very special assembly featuring competitions, heartfelt messages and some hilarious videos produced by teachers.

We will see many Year 11 back as Sixth Formers, hopefully at prom (pending lockdown restrictions ending according to the government’s roadmap!) and results day on 12^th August.

At home, Year 11 will be continuing to work on careers activities to prepare them for their next steps.

This year we will not be inviting parents/carers onto school site for progress evenings. This is in line with government Covid-19 guidance. Progress evenings for each year group will therefore take place via video appointments.

The school’s online appointment booking system allows you to choose your own appointment times with teachers and you will receive an email confirming your appointments. At the time of your appointment, you can join a video meeting with your child’s teacher by logging into your appointments and clicking the ‘join video meetings’ link.  

Tips for a successful appointment:  

• Please visit www.barrbeacon.parentseveningsystem.co.uk to book your appointments. Your login details can be found in a letter that will be sent home prior to your child’s Virtual Progress Evening. Should this letter have been mislaid you can contact your child’s House Office who will be happy to provide you with login details.
• Guidance on how to join the video meetings with your child’s teachers can be found at https://support.parentseveningsystem.co.uk/article/801-video-parents-how-to-attend-appointments-over-video-call.
• Please note that video appointments are strictly limited to 5 minutes. A timer at the top of your screen indicates the length of time remaining in the meeting and, after 5 minutes, the video link will close.  Your child’s teacher has no control over this. If you have any remaining questions following your appointment please contact House Office. 
• If you do not have access to the internet, please contact your child’s House Office who will be happy to arrange a telephone consultation to give you information about your child’s progress. 
• If you have a slow internet connection at home, please ask other users of tablets, gaming consoles or television applications to refrain from using these for the duration of your meetings. If your video appointment is unsuccessful, a follow-up telephone conversation can be arranged with the House Office at a later date. 
• If you are experiencing problems with your virtual appointment, moving closer to your wireless router can often improve the quality and clarity of your video appointment. 

Tuesday 14 July from 10am to 4pm

Big Bang Digital 2020 – science, engineering and Covid-19 is a free online event for young people 11+ to attend short, inspiring sessions looking at all aspects of STEM in a pandemic.

It’s the perfect opportunity for students to see STEM careers in action, hear inspiring stories from incredible people (including a Nobel Prize winner), ask questions in live Q&A sessions, add their voice to online polls and complete activities throughout the day. 

Big Bang Digital can be included as part of home learning or streamed in school and is a secure environment with safeguarding measures in place. 

Line-up at a glance:

• TV & Radio Science Presenter, Podcaster & YouTuber Greg Foot will be hosting live
• Meet NHS frontline staff, join the race to find a vaccine and ask the experts your coronavirus questions.
• Hear from people designing PPE, ventilators and a social distancing lanyard
• Find out how the NHS Nightingale hospitals were built so quickly
• Meet the teams keeping things moving, water in the taps and food in the shops
• Explore lockdown cybersecurity and staying safe online
• Pay tribute to key workers with a rainbow science show with Gastronaut Stefan Gates

To check out the full programme visit: www.digitalbigbang.co.uk

Every year, Barr Beacon School hosts the annual ‘Dance Spectacular’ to celebrate the hard work and success of our students from Years 7 – 11. Due to the current circumstances, our students have been working extremely hard at home to ensure our show can still go ahead virtually. Thank you for watching and we hope you enjoy it.